IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO

IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO

In Matthew 19:8, Jesus replied a statement by the Pharisees thus, ".......but from the beginning it was not so". Any time we talk about the beginning we talk of God’s original plan and in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.”  When we want to use any product, we need to understand what it was meant for in the beginning and use it for what it was intended. One of the reasons why Jesus came is to restore us back to how it was in the beginning, the lifestyle and our relationship with God as it was in the beginning. What is the original purpose that he designed for me in the beginning. In Rom 5:12, As sin by one man entered so is righteousness come by one man. The original sin was in the garden of Eden, and from there what was planned in the beginning was changed. The dominion, estates, gardens of abundance that was given in the beginning was lost. 

There was a design and plan of God in the beginning for our lives. In Jeremiah 1:5, It is written, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; ....." . What one needs to ask is, is this the original plan that God has for me, is it the original place we are to be. In Luke 1:5-25, John was named by God before his birth and it was declared that he would be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. being great in God’s sight requires some self-denial like John had to deny himself of wine or strong drink. The strange thing that happened was that when John was to be named on the eight day, Their neighbors and relatives named him Zechariah after his father but his mother answered and said “Not so, and he shall be called John”. 

There was none in his father’s lineage with such a name. John's father was also asked with signals (because he was dumb) and he wrote for them "his name is John" and he immediately regained his speak.

 When God has a plan the devil comes with his own agenda. There have been so many cases when God intervened by changing the names of people even during childbirth. To tell the circumstance of the children of Israel, God changed the name of Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. In Genesis 32 :8, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel reminding him again in Genesis 35:10 that he has changed his name because it was tied to his purpose of life.  Ichabod was named because the Glory of god had departed. Jabez was named after the sorrow of that period.

There are seven people God gave their names before they were born, Ishmael, Isaac, Josiah, Solomon, Cyrus (named almost 170 years before he was born), John and Jesus Christ. Why God named them before they are born is tied to their purpose and promise for what God will do in their time. For instance, in 1 Chronicles 22:9, Solomon shall be a man of peace and rest, Israel shall have peace and quiet during his reign. back to the case of John, he was first named Zechariah, because of unbelieve his father had been made dumb and could not utter a word during the naming. But his mother stood up to say No to the name Zechariah. At the time of our birth, how many people have the privilege of having someone to stand up and say no to the change of their destiny. A lot of people have had experiences that makes the lie of the devil stay so long that it now looks like the true picture. The devil is after changing what God has spoken concerning our life in the beginning. Someone can say, what is so special about a name, but when one is named wrongly it becomes difficult to make it right. When the name is wrong the purpose is almost defeated just like naming a bottle of water “ACID”, people would not drink it and it will not fulfil its purpose because of the name given to it. 1 Samuel 25:25, Nabal means “foolish” and he has been named Nabal since he was born, and it was said that as he is named so he is. The wife went to David to plead on Nabal’s behalf because he acted foolishly and refused to help David. And Nabal died but that was not the plan for Nabal.

“Not so” as said by Elizabeth (John’s mother) is the opposition we must give to the devil that wants to thwart the plans of god for our life. For us to have our real destiny, we say yes to destiny and plans of God and say no to evil directions. 

In reality, the enemy does not just go silent when we say ‘Not so”, to be able to get final victory we need to mount that opposition constantly. It is one thing to mount the opposition and another thing to secure the destiny and plans of God for our lives. Luke 1:61, In John’s case, the people had said that the name John had never been in the family. There are limitations just because of the background and family, maybe no one had eve had such a name or destiny or so people want to change it. The devil wanted to use John’s background to change his destiny. Some people say a closed mouth is a closed destiny but bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:7 “There is a time to be silent and a time to speak”. Say this short prayer, “O Lord, may our mouth not be closed when it is needed to speak”. If Elizabeth was silent, John’s destiny would have been changed. Keeping silent might just be accepting what the devil has brought. Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” We should speak against any opposition of the devil against the original destiny and plan of God for our lives.

Let us go to our father who art in heaven, in Isaiah 54:17 he has said that “Any tongue raised against us we should condemn”. If someone is struggling to know the design of God for him from the beginning, then you need to go back to the word of God.

 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” It should not depart from your mouth, hear it with your ears, receive it with your heart.  Meditate on Gods word because meditation is powerful and as you keep meditating on God’s word you begin to receive it. God spoke and then he saw, God said “let there be light and there was light”. We need to speak God’s word concerning our destiny for us to receive it. Acts 19:19-20, The word of God must grow in us and then it will prevail and have power. In Acts 12:22, the word of God grew and multiplied. In Isaiah 55:11 “The word of God shall not return void and unaccomplished”. The devil’s strategy is to make you say and believe the lie about your destiny in various ways that it will not seem like the truth.

 How to bring back our original destiny.

1.       Live a holy life

2.       Do not be disobedient or stubborn to the word of God. 1 Samuel 15:23 “Stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry”.

3.       Have our spirit man empowered, Elizabeth was able to say “Not so” because she was filled with the holy ghost. Luke 1:41

4.       We must be determined not to accept the verdict of the devil. Circumstance may not seem right, but we must not accept the devil’s verdict.

5.       Enquire from God in the place of prayer.

6.       Check the scripture because it carries what God has planned for us.  

7.       We must be determined Isaiah 62:7 “Give the LORD no rest until he completes his work, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.” Do not rest until you see God’s plan manifest in your life.

Examine your life, is this plan the plan in the beginning. The destiny and plan of God cannot be established in your life if you are not born again. Join the prayer below and give your life to Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Lord God Almighty, I surrender my life to you. Please forgive me all my sins, write my name in the book of life and establish my destiny so that i may see your plans for me fulfiled in my life in Jesus name. Amen

Minister: Samuel Oguta

WILL YOU ALSO GO AWAY

WILL YOU ALSO GO AWAY

One of the highlights of John 6:1-13 tells us how Jesus had taught his followers and performed miracles for three days and called his apostles to give his followers something to eat. Jesus is always touched by our feelings but only after he had fed their spirit with spiritual food. 

When Jesus was giving spiritual food, Mary was feeding from it but Martha was busy with physical food. The essence of coming to Christ is not for material things(physical food) but for spiritual food. The followers of Jesus asked him how he got there only because they sought for him for physical food/blessings than the spiritual things “John 6:25-26 “. Jesus told them in verse 59-61 that he is the living bread, on hearing this teaching they called it a hard teaching. 

These are the reasons why people follow and fall by the way side, the inability to bear hard things. In verse 61, Jesus asked them if his words offends them, there are things Jesus said that people did not understand. And from that moment In verse 66-69, many of Jesus’s disciples departed. They had challenges and only wanted Jesus to give them material things and make the challenges go away but heard the so called hard teaching and decides to leave, they did not work with Jesus anymore There are many things people need and when these physical needs do not come early, how many will keep following Jesus. Jesus asked the “Twelve” ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’. 

Though the twelve had seen several miracles and wonders performed by Jesus, yet Jesus still asked them. Everybody is given the option either to continue or to go away. Someone would have come very far and still go away. People still go away even after seeing miracles. There is always that point where a man chooses to follow Jesus or go away. People choose how much longer they want to follow Jesus.  1 Timothy 4”1-2 “The spirit clearly says that in latter times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons”. The first time deceiving spirits was known to man was in the time of Eve where she was deceived to eat the forbidden fruit. In this passage of 1 Timothy 4:1-2 Paul was talking to a pastor, Timothy, so the message of deceiving spirits was already taught long ago. Jesus was not surprised by the leaving of the disciples. In John 2:23-25 he performed signs and wonders and they believed in his name, yet it is written that he knew what was in each person, so he was not surprised in John 6 when they departed. Jesus was presented with the option to desert God in the privacy of his 40 days fasting and prayer. Devil gave him an option of denouncing God but he did not take it. We always ask of material things, what of the grace for eternal life. Those days when Christianity was much better, we ask for grace to make eternal life, what about now.

To stay following Jesus is a fight. Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:12 “fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life”. In Jude 3-4, Jude the brother of Jesus one of the other sons of Mary, was compelled to urge the Christians to contend for the faith entrusted to God’s holy people because the faith is under attack and ungodly people have secretly slipped in among them as written long ago. They deny Jesus Christ as our Sovereign Lord.

How to stay in faith

Jude verse 20-21 

1.    Build up yourselves in most holy things 
2.    Grow in grace and in the things of God 
3.  Pray in the holy ghost, speak in tongues and pray with the full consciousness of the   holy spirit. 
4.  See Jesus Christ not just as the way but as the only way.

 Re-dedicate your life to Jesus Christ today, tell him you will not go away because of eternal life.

 PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, Have mercy on me a miserable sinner. Forgive me all, my sins and help me to stand in faith and not leave the faith in the face of hardship. Thank you lord for answered prayers in Jesus name i prayer. Amen

Minister: Samuel Oguta

DON'T GIVE UP

DONT GIVE UP

In Matthew 15:21-28, The Canaanite woman came to Jesus for her miracle but being a Canaanite, was therefore still under a curse placed on Canaan by Noah In Genesis 9:25 “And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren” In verse 22 It is recorded that the woman came out to the same coast of Tyre and Sidon where Jesus was. If Jesus had not made himself available, the woman would not have an opportunity for the deliverance. Jacob wrestled with God till breaking of day because God made himself available at that time. The beginning of the mercy of God is when Jesus appears in a situation. Jesus went to the coast for that woman, but even at that there is a process. He makes himself available but sometimes we do not follow through the process of getting the miracle. If there is anything that Jesus came for it is to destroy the works of the devil 1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”. Before now, Jesus had gotten requests that do not matter, the Canaanite woman’s case is exactly what Jesus came for, to destroy the works of the devil. The woman said, “Jesus thou son of David have mercy on me”, this is what every other person says, and Jesus will help them.  

Blind Bartimaeus said the same thing in Mark 10:46-52 and got his miracle. The woman did not make a request for material things but that the works of the devil over her daughter ends, then why did Jesus not answer her immediately. 

The request and the problem looked okay for Jesus to answer but Jesus was silent. The woman had come to the only source of help, but Jesus was silent. We cannot tell for how long he was silent, there are records of psalms when God was silent in Psalm 83:1 and Psalm 13:1. There are times we feel that even negative answer is better than silence. “How long” is the most frequent question in the book of Psalms and It is at this point that a lot of people take offense. In vs 23, “And his disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away; for she crieth after us”, her cry had become an embarrassment to the disciples. The disciple’s reaction could have been enough for the woman to “give up”. It also tells us that even close to the time of miracles even among brethren discouragement could come to drive you away from your miracle. Jesus said to the woman that he is sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, but still did not send her away. It was a “process” he was taking her through.

The process

1.       Hebrews 10:36 says that after doing the will of God, you still need patience in order to receive what he has promised. Heb 10:39 says we should not shrink back and be destroyed but to have faith and be saved.

2.       Even when it seems you hear a voice telling you that it may not be your destiny to get that blessing, you need to still persevere like the Canaanite woman.

3.       She came nearer and worshiped Jesus saying “Lord help me” vs 25. 

      It is one thing to come near, it is another thing to worship. There are wonders in worship, the Israelites worshiped God at different points in time and experienced the mighty power of God.

4.       When she shouted “Son of David” in vs 22 she did not get answers but when she called “Lord help me” in vs 25 Jesus replied. Acknowledging Jesus as Lord over you will bring him to help you. When Peter was drowning in he prayed “Lord save me” and Jesus answered.

5.       Matthew 7:6 had excluded some people called dogs and pigs from the promise of Matthew 7:7 which says “Ask and it shall be given unto you...”. Jesus answered the woman in vs 26 that he cannot take the children’s bread and give it to dogs., but her faith made her say in vs 27 “Yet the dogs eat of crumbs from their masters table”. Because she believed that even the dogs have a relationship with their master. She believed that what can be classified as crumbs will heal her daughter.

6.       She was able to negotiate and argue her case with humility and did not take offense. Defeating arguments posed by the devil takes humility and perseverance.

In verse 28, Jesus acknowledged that great is the woman’s faith. The men of title(Leaders) may not be the ones with great faith. That it has not happened before does not mean that God cannot do it for you. If the woman had given up or taken offence, what hope could she hold on to. Where else could she have gone to. We have to humble ourselves before God with the mindset that we would not give up. The things that work for some other people may not work for us. 

It is only when we are born again that our cry for help or even our worship will be accept. Say the prayer below to become born again.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, please forgive me all my sins and cleanse me from all my unrighteousness. I accept you as my personal Lord and Savior. Please hear my cry when i call upon thee for help in Jesus name. Amen

 Minister: Samuel Oguta